Sewage Samples Could Be Used to Prevent the Next Viral Outbreak

Indoor plumbing is a beautiful thing. With a single flush, it transports all your nasty business to a far-off place where you never have to think about it again. But according to a group of researchers at MIT, we shouldn’t be writing off our waste so quickly.

Sewage contains information about a population’s microbiomes that could be potentially life-saving. One stool sample can provide a look at a person’s genetic tendencies, potential illnesses, and overall health. Descending into the sewers to gather this data is not a pretty job, but thankfully the scientists at MIT’S Senseable City Lab are willing to take the plunge.

The Underworlds project began at the start of this year with researchers donning biohazard suits and climbing through manholes to collect samples by hand. They’ve since developed a network of robots to do the dirty work for them. The automated samplers are stationed throughout the city in residential neighborhoods, industrial areas, and the Harvard and MIT campuses. Almost as soon as the information is gathered, it's transmitted back to MIT, where the Underworlds labs get to work analyzing it for biochemical information.

To give you an idea of how this data could be useful: Just one sample they studied contained more than 58,000 viruses. By gathering this type of information on a large scale, cities would be better equipped to predict outbreaks of disease and detect new viral strains. Data on everything from deadly pandemics to the common flu could be used to inform policies makers, health practitioners, and researchers in the future.

The information could also be used to map city demographics. If they find that a certain neighborhood has higher amounts of antibiotics in their sewage, for instance, they might assume it's home to a larger population of children and elderly people. While this could be used as a new way to survey a population, being able to trace the samples back to specific individuals is much less likely.

It’s still too early to say what the full impact of Underworlds will be. The team is now expanding their operation to Kuwait, where the platform can be used to detect potential enterovirus outbreaks. For a stunning visualization of the Cambridge sewage–sourced data they've compiled so far, head over to Underworlds' webpage.

Google Maps is more than just a tool for getting from Point A to Point B. The app can highlight the traffic congestion on your route, show you restaurants and attractions nearby, and even estimate how crowded your destination is in real time. But until recently, people who use wheelchairs to get around had to look elsewhere to find routes that fit their needs. Now, Google is changing that: As Mashable reports, the company's Maps app now offers a wheelchair accessible option to users.

Anyone with the latest version of Google Maps can access the new feature. After opening the app, just enter your starting point and destination and select the public transit choices for your trip. Maps will automatically show you the quickest routes, but the stations it suggests aren't necessarily wheelchair accessible.

To narrow down your choices, hit "Options" in the blue bar above the recommended routes then scroll down to the bottom of the page to find "Wheelchair accessible." When that filter is checked, your list of routes will update to only show you bus stops and subways that are also accessible by ramp or elevator where there are stairs.

While it's a step in the right direction, the new accessibility feature isn't a perfect navigation tool for people using wheelchairs. Google Maps may be able to tell you if a station has an elevator, but it won't tell you if that elevator is out of service, an issue that's unfortunately common in major cities.

The wheelchair-accessible option launched in London, New York, Tokyo, Mexico City, Boston, and Sydney on March 15, and Google plans to expand it to more transit systems down the road.

Even if you never chew gum, you may have stepped on a gob of the stuff discarded on a sidewalk or felt it stuck beneath a park bench. Chewing gum is the second most common source of litter, behind cigarettes, and because it isn't biodegradable, cities are struggling to get rid of it. Now, the BBC reports that British designer Anna Bullus has found an ingenious alternative to tossing old gum on the ground: She's repurposing it into new products normally made out of rubber or plastic.

Bullus started her gum recycling project by installing bright pink bins called Gumdrops around sites in the UK. The containers, which are made from recycled gum themselves, come with signs telling passersby that any old gum dropped into the bin will be recycled. In some places, the receptacles led to an 89 percent decrease in gum litter.

After analyzing the chemistry of chewing gum, Bullus found that it contains polyisobutylene, a type of polymer similar to plastic that's often used as a synthetic rubber. This means it can be used to make everyday products like doorstops, coffee cups, and plasticware. It can even been turned into playful pink soles for shoes, which look much more attractive than the gum that normally ends up on the bottom of your shoe.

The collected gum is processed with other plastic polymers at a recycling plant in Worcester, and from there it's sent to a plastic molding specialist in Leicester, where Bullus executes her designs. Combs, lunchboxes, pencils, Frisbees and many other items made from gum are available to order from the Gumdrop website. Anna Bullus is also accepting suggestions of other products to make from the chewed-up gum she collects.